All Forum Posts by: Garrett Honea

I'm looking for a company/service who will manage notes for owner financing.  This is something I'm moving towards but I know I don't want to spend the time managing every note.  I see several companies around the country but wanted to hear from people with first hand experience.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You're not alone.  Writing that first big check or signing your first real estate contract is scary but It gets easier.  As far as which property to buy, follow the numbers, don't just buy to buy.  No purchase or contract is "Comfortable" no matter how ready you are or how sure the deal is, but you don't grow by doing the easy stuff.  Find the right deal and jump in all the way.

Good luck!

You're not alone.  Writing that first big check or signing your first real estate contract is scary but It gets easier.  As far as which property to buy, follow the numbers, don't just buy to buy.  No purchase or contract is "Comfortable" no matter how ready you are or how sure the deal is, but you don't grow by doing the easy stuff.  Find the right deal and jump in all the way.

Good luck!

I'm hitting an imaginary plateau on occupancy. What marketing strategies have worked for you? We do the usual web postings on every rental site possible, flyers at hospitals, coffee shops, and local college lists. Looking for more innovative/creative ways people have found qualified tenants.

No updates to post yet.  I have been slow moving in this process as we are in the middle of some other large projects at my other properties.  I plan to get estimates in January and really start figuring out if this will be a worth while endeavor.  I will definitely update this thread as we gain info.

Thank you for your thoughts everyone. What I've found so far is, in Texas you are allowed to charge each unit as if it holds max occupancy. (Ie. 1bdr can have 2 adults, 2bd can have 4 etc.) Other comps in our area which were all bills paid, installed individual meters for their units in the past 5 years. We have proced that out but the quotes we are getting are ridiculous. Oddly, my rents are at priced $25-$50 below all my comps but with all bills paid currently. That is a $100-150 value in Texas. That savings doesn't seem to translate to prospecitve tenants. They only see a slightly lower rent not even considering the all bills paid savings. The goal with "Rubs" will be to drop my new rents $75-100 but add in the utility payments. My revenue is the same either way but my rents will be well below my area comps. Also, it will help to curb over usage of water, gas and eletric which seems to accompany an all bills paid community. I am getting a company to come out and give me a quote on submetering setup and find the hard cost for this transition. If the numbers make sense we will move forward. I will keep everyone posted. If you feel I'm making some wrong moves, please speak up. One thing I know for certain is I don't know everything. I always appreciate experienced input.

We have been exploring new ways to increase revenue at our apartment complexes. 90% of our tenants are well below market value on rents. Obviously, we are looking at raising rents but we are also looking at "Rubs" Ratio Utility Billing system as an alternativ e. Most of our cost are from our monthly utilities so if we can cover that we would get oursleves in a much better postition. However, I'm not finding much info about "Rubs" except for all the companies I could hire to implement this program. I'm looking for any advice from someone with knowledge on the subject.

@Leon Li when I have an app with good income but poor credit I look heavily into rental history. Just because they dont have an eviction on record doesnt mean they have good rental history. Call as many of their past rentals you can and get as much info as possible. I've had tenants with bad credit but they always prioritized rent amd were wonderful tenants. However, I have also had the opposite happen. A bad tenant can cost more money than a rental which stays vacant for a few months. I know some will say thats blasphemy but thats the record we have found. Good luck.

@Sammy G. I have been told I've done this all backwards but when a deal lands in your lap, you take it. As for flipping the houses, I look at it as my higher risk higher reward investment. Since I already have the retirement plan in the works. Also, my parents are about to retire and they would like to try their hand in real estate. I offered to partner with them financially and support with what experience I've gained from make-readies. I guess I'm always looking to change things up every 4-5 years. Career ADD I guess.

@Jeffrey Calabrese We don't have a 3rd party management company as we have found value in handling all aspects ourselves. I have. manager and 1 maint. tech per complex and a floating mant. tech. I support maint. as well as out managers to make sure we keep the ball rolling. occasionally that means doing some of the maint. myself. As far as getting into flipping. I definitely have a few good contractors I will be able to rely upon. i enjoy the apartments but SFH interest me because I feel I can have a bit more fun on the fixes. We will see.